As we’ve shared in recent days, preseason computer projections haven’t been friendly to IU football.
ESPN’s SP+ and FPI both say the Hoosiers are the worst team in the 18-team Big Ten Conference as we get set to kick off the 2024 campaign.
For new head coach Curt Cignetti, that’s just fine. He’s seen less than flattering preseason predictions during his head coaching career.
“The two times we were picked next to last, in 2022, we won the conference championship, and in 2017 we inherited an 8-45 team and won eight in a row and played JMU the last game of the year for the conference championship,” Cignetti said.
To balance out the preseason prediction coverage, we’ll share a preseason prediction of every bowl game by well known national college football analyst Brett McMurphy of the Action Network.
Making a bowl game isn’t all that difficult in 2024. 12 teams will make the new College Football Playoff bracket, and an additional 70 will play in one of 35 other bowl games. Combined, that’s more than half of the 134 teams in the FBS.
Cignetti has never experienced a losing record throughout his head coaching career, and the Hoosiers could still make a bowl game with just five wins if there aren’t enough six win teams to fill the available bowl slots.
McMurphy projects Indiana will play in the postseason for the first time since appearing in the Outback Bowl against Ole Miss following the 2020 campaign.
He projects the Hoosiers will make a return trip to the Pinstripe Bowl in New York, where they’ll be a .5-point favorite over N.C. State.
Indiana’s trip to the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl was memorable. Griffin Oakes missed a field goal in overtime that would have sent the game into a second extra session. While many in the IU fan base believe the kick was good, it was not reviewable and the Blue Devils celebrated a 44-41 win at Yankee Stadium.
While just making a bowl game in 2024 would be a major improvement for Indiana, the Hoosiers will also be seeking their first postseason win in over 30 years.
IU’s last win in a bowl game came in 1991 when they defeated Baylor at the Copper Bowl in Arizona. They’ve lost six straight postseason games since.
In total, IU has played in 13 bowl games and they’ve compiled a 3-10 record.
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
